By Makutu Manneh
The governing National People’s Party and the Gambia Democratic Congress formally allied themselves on Wednesday, signing a memorandum of understanding ahead of the country’s Dec. 5 presidential election, in a move that reshapes the political landscape less than five months before Gambians go to the polls.
The agreement was signed at State House by Momodou Pateh Bah, the GDC’s national president, and Musa Drammeh, national president of the NPP, formalizing a partnership between President Adama Barrow’s party and one of the country’s opposition forces.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Drammeh described the alliance as a reflection of trust and shared values, and argued that it distinguished the NPP and its new partner from rival opposition coalition efforts that he said had already fallen apart. He called the partnership a demonstration of unity that made the outcome of the election all but settled.
Mr. Drammeh pointed to the show of support from both the NPP and the GDC as a signal of strength in the Upper River Region, a traditional GDC stronghold, saying the alliance between Mr. Barrow and GDC leader Mama Kandeh left little room for a genuine contest there. He urged Mr. Kandeh to disregard any criticism the deal might draw and to hold to what he described as the spirit of cooperation that had brought the two parties together. He said there was nothing to regret in the arrangement.
For his part, Mr. Bah called the signing a significant moment not just for the two parties but for the country as a whole. He said the alliance was rooted in a shared conviction that national progress outweighed the interests of any single party, rather than in political convenience.
Mr. Bah said the GDC’s core commitments—to dignity, development, and a government that listens to its citizens—remained intact, and that the party viewed the alliance as a vehicle for advancing those values on a larger scale rather than abandoning them. He emphasized that the partnership did not mean the dissolution of the GDC’s identity, noting that the party would retain its own name, structures, and voice within the alliance.
He said the two parties had concluded that unity could accomplish what neither could achieve on its own, and that the GDC was entering the arrangement in good faith, expecting consultation, mutual respect, and fair recognition of each party’s contributions in return.
“To our members and supporters across each region, ward, and village: your trust has brought us here, and it is that same trust we bring to this alliance,” Mr. Bah said. “We ask you to stand with us, campaign with us, and believe with us that a better Gambia is within reach; let this agreement be remembered not as a mere political connivance but as a genuine commitment, country above party, unity above division, and Gambian people above all else.”
The NPP-GDC alliance adds a significant new element to the political calculus ahead of December’s election, as other opposition parties continue separate negotiations over whether to unite behind a single independent candidate or pursue party-led coalitions of their own.
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